French Pot Roast - In a Slow Cooker

I've been meaning to post this one for a while, but I got sidetracked with the holidays and an impromptu escape to Key West.  My friend Heather pinned this on Pinterest and I immediately repinned it to my own board.  I left work one day at lunch and threw it all in the crockpot. Definitely couldn't whip up Julia's boeuf bourguignonne in that amount of time, huh? http://recipes.womenshealthmag.com/Recipe/french-pot-roast.aspx

It was good.  Not great.  Just good.  But it was easy and there weren't any leftovers, so it was still a success.  I originally served it with buttered egg noodles and roasted broccoli, but the bf ate it for numerous lunches with some leftover mashed potatoes (which he preferred, I think).

I definitely added more peas and mushrooms and onions than it called for.  It just still tasted like it was missing something to me.  Given that it's from Women's Health magazine, maybe the problem is just that it didn't have enough fattening deliciousness for my tastebuds?

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken

Here is a super easy crock pot recipe for you-- buffalo chicken!  I found this on pinterest.com and was not disappointed. http://mykitchenapron.blogspot.com/2011/07/crock-pot-buffalo-chicken.html I decided to make this at the last minute on a Saturday, so I bought chicken breasts that were not frozen and cooked them on high for about 2-3 hours in the buffalo sauce and ranch mix.

Once they were cooked through, I shredded the chicken and added it back to the crock pot to soak up the juice with a little butter.

We enjoyed it on toasted hoagie rolls with pepper jack cheese and blue cheese dressing.  Tots and celery were a must!  It was VERY messy, but super tasty.

The next night, I made a quesadilla with the chicken and I suspect it would be super yummy on chips as a dip or even on a salad.  It's definitely an easy gameday meal or a quick supper solution if you love buffalo anything like me!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In case you're thinking of baking for the holidays, it doesn't get much better than Tyler Florence's "My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies." My brother is a cookie monster and would eat a dozen of these daily if his girlfriend and I would keep them stocked.  I follow the recipe for the most part. Definitely do not skip on the sifting.  That's what gives them their perfect texture. The only thing I do differently is that I do not chop up 8oz. of chocolate.  I find that is not nearly enough!  I typically use 1/2 bag of Ghiradelli Cacao chocolate chips and 1/2 bag of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chips.  If you're making them for kiddos, I suggest using a full bag of milk chocolate chips.  The more chocolate the better, I say.  (I use about 12oz total. Sometimes more if I have it!) I like for my dough to look something like this:

I'm also a big fan of having the proper tools, which makes baking them so much easier!  I love love love my Silpat and fancy cookie sheet, which were gifts from my brother (think he was giving me a hint?  MORE COOKIES)!

Tyler calls for you to make them big.  I like using an ice-cream scoop to make smaller cookies so they last longer.  Yum yum yum!  Merry Christmas!

The Saddest Post

I have sad news. Remember this post about my Le Creuset in Caribbean?  Well, it met a tragic end a couple of weeks ago. :(  It was a non-one-potter kind of night where I decided to make a pork roast with baked potatoes and veggies.  I covered my pork roast in fresh herbs and salt and pepper and olive oil and garlic and put it in my favorite dish to roast.  At the last second I remembered some apple cider I had in the fridge, so I poured that in the bottom to keep it extra moist.  This might have been part of my dish's demise.  When my roast was done, there was a sticky black mess coating the casserole dish.  The pork was delicious, so I wrapped the dish in foil with the leftovers and put it in the fridge.  A day later, the bf noticed a sticky mess dripping all into his fridge.  He called and said, "I have bad news."  Bless his heart for breaking the news to me so gently-- the dish had a crack down the middle!  I suspect it was a combo of the extra hot gooey cider and then refrigerating before it had cooled enough.  I found it hard to be too sad because Christmas is oh-so-close and now my brother can just give me the same fabulous gift two years in a row!  Rest in peace, sweet dish. You inspired one full year of delicious one-potters!

The dish's final meal

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love soup and chicken tortilla is one of my favorites.  I usually make Tyler Florence's version found here.  There are a few things I particularly love about it-- it's totally from scratch, you fry your own tortilla chips, and, since it takes forever and a day to make, you feel like you've really accomplished something once you get to sit down and eat it.

That being said, my mom recommended Rachel Ray's recipe.  I tend to avoid most things Rachel Ray, but it was a Thursday after work, I really wanted soup, and my mom *really* loved it.  It was seriously good!  A couple of things I love about this version-- it is so easy to make without making you feel dumb (the charred corn is an excellent ingredient) and I've now discovered chipotle in adobo peppers.  Where have you been all my life, sweet-smokey-spicy deliciousnesses!?!  It calls for 2, but they were so tiny I put about half the can.  Then I tasted them.... If you don't care for super spicy, just put the two.  Half the can was perfect for my spicy tastes.  The only other thing I did differently was that my grocery store did not have any blue corn chips.  Since I wasn't going to stir in 4 cups like she recommended anyway (holy calories, Batman), I just used a couple of regular tortilla chips as garnish with my cheese, sour cream, avocado, and cilantro (because those are all fat-free, right?!).  Super easy and super good.  Thanks, Mom!

Casserole Break

I've been on a casserole break the past couple of weeks.  The first casserole-free week was because I felt like I needed something a little healthier.  That week it was baked chicken, baked potatoes, and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

A little note about the broccoli-- my brother makes amazing roasted broccoli.  Apparently he douses it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and sometimes other herbs and garlic.  Then he puts them in a hot oven until they're tender and brown.  Mine never turn out as good as his, but I much prefer this over steamed. So tasty!

A note about these plates.  Ugh.  When my brother moved off to college, my mom went to the outlet to get him dishes and this was the most masculine option.  He hated them.  I hate them.  Are they Santa Fe inspired or what?  However, those heinous black and white dishes my food is normally on belong to the bf.  He moved into a new place, went to Target, those were the cheapest, so he got them.  I hate those too.  Well, one of them broke so we only had 3 plates in the house and that wasn't cutting it.  My mom donated the Santa Fe ones to him.  I'm quite certain I'm in china hell.

That's MY plate. Because I pick out pretty dishes.

This week there was no casserole because the bf suggested the most Southern meal imaginable-- meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, mustard greens, and cornbread.  Hello, delicious.

I more or less make Paula Deen's Basic Meatloaf.  However, as you can see on my plate, it's more like meat-scoop than meat-loaf.  I'm always starving and cut it before it's ready.  It still tastes yummy.

I make mean cornbread and mustard greens, too.  The cornbread is more or less the White Lily recipe and the mustard greens are Rachel Ray's.  Mashed potatoes are always a hit.  I like mine nice and chunky, so I boil the potatoes, drain, add cream and butter, and mash by hand.  Mmm, Southern soul food!

Lasagna

Lasagna was this week's one-potter by request.  For the longest time I didn't believe in making homemade lasagna because Stouffer's is so darn good (and I'm not ashamed to admit I'll still eat those single servings they have if I'm alone).  Once I made a fancy Mario Batali version that involved homemade pasta and a bechamel sauce that nearly killed me- oww my arm!  These days, it's all about my easy little concoction.

What you need:
1. My Brother's Spaghetti sauce
2. Cooked lasagna noodles
3. 2 lbs. ricotta + 4 egg yolks + 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan + salt and pepper
4. 2 cups of mozzarella

Start by making the spaghetti sauce from my previous post.  As that's simmering, cook your noodles.  I suppose you could use those "no boil" noodles, but I kind of hate them.  In my experience, parts always stay crunchy and I miss those old-fashioned crinkled edges.  Mix the 2 lbs. of ricotta with 4 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs... it doesn't really matter) and 1.5 cups of Parm and some salt and pepper.  Then start assembling!  I've never purchased a rectangle pan large enough, so I swear by those disposable ones you get for $2 at the store.  Plus, you don't have to wash it!  Easy cleanup!  Put some sauce in the bottom so it doesn't stick followed by a layer of pasta topped with the ricotta mixture then mozzarella cheese then sauce.  Repeat and be sure to end with pasta + sauce + the remaining mozzarella.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes!

We enjoyed ours with salad and bread.  I'm always too impatient to let the lasagna set properly, so I end up getting a "scoop" of lasagna instead of a perfectly layered square.  It'll look prettier when I have leftovers tonight, I am sure!